The present invention relates to a combing cylinder for a comber.
The comber includes a working portion provided with multiple (typically, eight) combing heads. The combing heads perform a series of operation to form slivers from laps. Each combing head includes a pair of a lap roller and a feed roller that operates to feed a lap by a predetermined amount at a time. The leading end of the lap is clamped by a nipper including a bottom nipper and a top nipper. The combing cylinder combs the leading end of the lap to form a fleece, and the fleece is moved toward detaching rollers by forward movement of the nipper. The rotation of the detaching rollers is reversed in accordance with the forward movement of the fleece to move the previously received fleece (preceding fleece) backward so that the trailing end of the fleece overlap the leading end of a newly combed fleece (following fleece). Subsequently, the detaching rollers rotate forward to receive the fleece from the nipper, and the top comb penetrates into the fleece to comb the trailing end of the fleece. The fleeces formed by the combing heads through repeating these operations are bundled and drafted, and then compressed by calender rollers to manufacture a sliver.
FIG. 6 shows a combing cylinder 50 disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 58-172474. The combing cylinder 50 includes a pair of mounting bosses 52 (only one of the mounting bosses 52 is shown in FIG. 6) fitted to a cylinder shaft 51 of a comber to be arranged apart from each other in the axial direction at a predetermined interval. On the outer circumference of the mounting bosses 52 are provided a combing segment 53 having an arcuate cross-section and a balance weight 54. The combing segment 53 is secured with bolts 55, and the balance weight 54 is secured with bolts 56. Each mounting boss 52 has an integrally formed inner ring 57 on its inner end. The inner ring 57 has a slit 57a. On the outer end of the inner ring 57 is fitted an outer ring 59 with a setscrew 58 screwed to extend perpendicularly to the slit 57a. Screwing the setscrew 58 causes the inner ring 57 to tighten the cylinder shaft 51, and thus the combing cylinder 50 is secured to the cylinder shaft 51.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show a combing cylinder 60 that has been proposed in Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Patent Publication 2013-538946. The combing cylinder 60 includes a base 62 and a balance weight 63 directly attached to a cylinder shaft 64. The base 62 has an outer circumferential surface that supports a card clothing 61.
The balance weight 63 is secured to the cylinder shaft 64 with multiple bolts 65, which extend through the balance weight 63 and are screwed to threaded bores formed in the cylinder shaft 64. The base 62 is secured to the cylinder shaft 64 with multiple bolts 66, which extend through the balance weight 63 and the cylinder shaft 64 and are screwed to threaded bores formed in the base 62. A cover 67 is attached to each end face of the base 62 with screws 68. The covers 67 block hollow spaces 62a of the base 62 from the outside.
In accordance with the kind of cotton and the required sliver quality, a comb (a combing segment or a card clothing) used is selected from a group of combs having different needle arrays (teeth). The number and the shape of comb needles vary depending on the kind of the comb, and the balance rate and the shape required for the balance weight vary in accordance with the kind of the comb. Ideally, the balance weight with the optimum balance rate and shape is selected in accordance with the kind of the comb. In reality, difference in the required balance rate and shape has been ignored, and one kind of balance weight has been used. The difference in the balance rate and the shape, however, can no longer be ignored because vibration of the comber has increased due to recent speed increase of the comber.
Combing cylinders have also been proposed that include multiple elements detachably secured to a base. Each element includes a needle array (teeth) that range in the size. Such a combing cylinder allows any of the elements to be replaced without detaching the base from the cylinder shaft. The balance weight, however, needs to be replaced when replacing the element because the balance will be lost by replacing the element.
The combing cylinder 50 of Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 58-172474 allows the balance weight 54 to be detached from the cylinder shaft 51 without detaching the combing segment 53 from the cylinder shaft 51. In combers, it is important to minimize the distance between the outer circumference of the combing segment 53, or the distal end of the needles, and the axis of the cylinder shaft 51. Furthermore, the combing cylinder 50 is driven at variable speeds and should have small inertia. The combing cylinder 50 of Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 58-172474, however, includes the mounting bosses 52 between the combing segment 53 and the cylinder shaft 51. Thus, when the distance between the axis of the cylinder shaft 51 and the outer circumference of the combing segment 53 is set to a predetermined value, an error in the distance is increased. Moreover, the inertia of the combing cylinder 50 is increased.
The combing cylinder 60 disclosed in Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Patent Publication 2013-538946 includes the base 62 directly secured to the cylinder shaft 64. As compared to the combing cylinder 50 of Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 58-172474, the error in the distance between the cylinder shaft 64 and the outer circumference of the card clothing 61 is reduced, and the inertia is also reduced. The combing cylinder 60 of Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Patent Publication 2013-538946, however, requires the comb main body, or the base 62, to be removed from the cylinder shaft 64 to detach the balance weight 63 from the cylinder shaft 64. Thus, detaching the balance weight 63 is complicated and involves a risk of damaging the comb needles, which are critical components.